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Weapons & Trench Warfare. World War One Total War/Modern Warfare. Myth. The British government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war. They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and over by Christmas. They used advertising posters to encourage this idea!.
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Weapons & Trench Warfare World War One Total War/Modern Warfare
The British government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war. They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and over by Christmas. They used advertising posters to encourage this idea! A picture of soldiers going ‘Over the Top’
Recruitment of Soldiers • Lord Kitchener was Secretary of War. • He was responsible for recruiting soldiers. • At the start of the war, a very successful campaign was started to encourage men to ‘join up’. • Posters were used to advertise the army. • Other successful methods of encouraging people to join up included the creation of ‘Pals Battalions’. • The scheme placed men from the same area into a battalion together: knowing other people in the army would ease the minds of the recruits. • But it also meant that when a battalion was hit by casualties, it took out most of the young men in a community.
Lord Kitchener is featured in this Propaganda Poster for the ‘Join Up’ Campaign.
Cardiff Pals in Salonika, Greece, in 1916.
When these Pals battalions went into battle, the Pals were all killed together. • Bradford lost 5,442 • Leeds lost 8,264
The impact of the war was therefore greater because the casualties were concentrated in particular areas. Thus we see • 345 of the Bradford Pals killed in one day, the first of the Somme. • 1,434 men of the Post Office Rifles, from the London Regiment killed between 1915 and 1918. On the other hand, there were a number of ‘thankful villages’ that were untouched. A third of the men of the village of Knowlton in Kent joined up – 12 men. The village won an award for the bravest village in England because so many joined up. Statistically one should have died. Not one actually died. This illustrates that the losses were not evenly spread.
Do on your Left Side: • What are your thoughts on the Pal Battalions? Why? • Would you be more likely to join up for the War in Iraq or Afghanistan if your friends were too? Why or why not?
Posters always showed men ready and willing to fight. They never showed the boredom of the trenches or actual fighting taking place. Why do you think the government showed no fighting?---On Left Side
Second Lieutenant Cyril Rawlins wrote in a letter to his mother in December 1914 • “Now, dearest mum, keep your heart up, and trust in Providence: I am sure I shall come through all right. It is a great and glorious thing to be going to fight for England in her hour of desperate need and, remember, I am going to fight for you, to keep you safe.”---What causes of World War One are reflected in this PS quote?
A common theme in the depiction of Germany in propaganda was to have them as an animal or beast. • Usually there is blood on the hands. • And often images of rape of women and children
“It was the feeling of national pride of King and country.” • “You must have seen the tens of thousands waiting outside the recruiting offices on the old films, they wanted to have a crack at the Hun.”
Private George Morgan, 1st Bradford Pals said in an interview after the war: • “We had been brought up to believe that Britain was the best country in the world, and we wanted to defend her. The history taught us at school showed that we were better than other people, and now all the news was what Germany the aggressors and we wanted to show the Germans what we could do. • I thought it would be the end of the world if I didn’t pass the medical. People were being failed for all sorts of reasons. When I came to have my chest measured, for I was only sixteen and rather small, I took a deep breath and puffed out my chest as far as I could, and the doctor said, ‘You’ve just scraped through.’ It was marvellous being accepted. • When I went back home and told my mother, she said I was a fool and she’d give me a good hiding; but I told her, ‘I am a man now, you can’t hit a man.’”
Reproduced below are the lyrics to the hugely popular wartime song written in 1914, Keep The Home Fires Burning, music by Ivor Novello and words by Lena Ford. • The song is also popularly known as Till The Boys Came Home. • The obvious sentimentality of the song lent it increased popularity for families at home than to soldiers serving on the various wartime fronts. • The song's tremendous success brought Ivor Novello overnight fame, launching a hugely successful post-war career; although he also served with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) as a pilot from 1916. • http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/keepthehomefiresburning.htm • Keep the Home Fires Burning • They were summoned from the hillsideThey were called in from the glen,And the country found them readyAt the stirring call for men.Let no tears add to their hardshipsAs the soldiers pass along,And although your heart is breakingMake it sing this cheery song: • Keep the Home Fires Burning,While your hearts are yearning,Though your lads are far awayThey dream of home.There's a silver liningThrough the dark clouds shining,Turn the dark cloud inside out'Til the boys come home. • Overseas there came a pleading,"Help a nation in distress."And we gave our glorious laddiesHonour bade us do no less,For no gallant son of freedomTo a tyrant's yoke should bend,And a noble heart must answerTo the sacred call of "Friend." • Keep the Home Fires Burning,While your hearts are yearning,Though your lads are far awayThey dream of home.There's a silver liningThrough the dark clouds shining,Turn the dark cloud inside out'Til the boys come home.
Send Me Away With A Smile Little girl don't cryI must say goodbyeDon't you hear the bugle call? And the fife and drum beats allWith the flag wave ov'er us allTho I love you soIt is time to goAnd the soldier in me you'll findWhen on land or seaMany boys like meYou would not have me stay behind? Even though the war had proved bloody, many were still itching to go finish off the Germans.In 1917, the war was still a popular thing in English Canada.
On your Left Side: • What do you think of the Militarism and Nationalism Propaganda strategies used to recruit the men for war? • Why? • Provide historical evidence to support your position.
If you survived the fighting and didn’t get shell shock THEN there was….
Devastation This WAS a beautiful forest!
Boredom, daily duties, grinding routine and more waiting. Then there were moments of sheer TERROR.
The industrialization of society from the Industrial Revolution would generate many military applications of new technology In 1915 British Admiral Jacky Fisher wrote, “The war is going to be won by inventions.” Machine gun Rapid fire artillery Airplanes Internal combustion engine Tanks Zeppelins Gas Flamethrowers Technological Advances from World War I
New Technology & WWI • New technology had not broken the “stalemate” of WWI – in fact they helped create it – the only real impact of technology was the dramatic increase in war death/injury & the impact of war on civilian populations – death tolls increased & civilian centers now became legitimate targets • Technological advancements surpassed military field strategy of “frontal assault charges” which had existed for millennia – this only increased battlefield casualties • Some significant technological developments: • Tanks – originally designed to break the stalemate of the trenches – became the future of ground warfare • Planes – war was taken to the skies • Submarines – in existence since the American Revolution – was now “perfected” • Chemical Warfare – mustard gas & choking poisons were used by all sides • Land Mines – used to destroy tanks • Telephone & Radio – communication & coordination devices • All-Steel Ships – increased size & gun capability • Long-Range Artillery – used to “soften up” enemy positions • Machine Guns – ended the military tactic of the “frontal assault” (not until some 11 million were dead first)
The changes of war • New weapons crippled the “frozen front” • Poison gas (mustard gas) • Hand grenades • Flame throwers • Tanks • Airplanes • Tanks • Subs
The World War I Battlefield • New weapons • Poison gas, other new weapons response to massive deadlock • Two systems of trenches stretched hundreds of miles, western Europe • Millions of Allied and Central Powers soldiers in trenches of Western Front • Trench warfare • Trench warfare not new idea • Soldiers had long hidden behind mounds of earth • Scale of 1914 Europe trench warfare never before experienced • Life in trenches • Rainstorms produced deep puddles, mud • Lice, rats, bad sanitation constant problems • Removing dead bodies often impossible
The World War I Battlefield • Over the top • Soldiers ordered out of trenches to attack enemy • Sprinting across area known as “no-man’s-land” a deadly game • Thousands on both sides died, cut down by enemy guns • New weapons • Neither side able to make significant advances on enemy’s trenches • Each side turned to new weapons like poison gas • Value limited, both sides developed gas masks • More effective • Other new weapons more effective than poison gas • Rapid-fire machine guns in wide use • Artillery and high-explosive shells, enormous destructive power
U-Boats Germany suffered because of the British blockade, so it developed small submarines called U-boats to strike back at the British. U-boats are named after the German for “undersea boat.” In February 1915 the German government declared the waters around Great Britain a war zone, threatening to destroy all enemy ships. Germany warned the U.S. that neutral ships might be attacked. The German plan for unrestricted submarine warfare angered Americans, and Wilson believed it violated the laws of neutrality. Wilson held Germany accountable for American losses. America’s Involvement In 1915, Germany sank a luxury passenger ship to Great Britain called the Lusitania, killing many, including 128 Americans Americans were outraged, and Wilson demanded an end to unrestricted submarine warfare. The Germans agreed to attack only supply ships but later sank the French passenger ship Sussex, killing 80 people. Wilson threatened Germany again, and Germany issued the Sussex pledge, promising not to sink merchant vessels “without warning and without saving human lives.” German Submarine Warfare
Submarines • On Feb 1, 1917, the Germans pursued unrestricted submarine warfare with the order “To all U-boats, sink on sight.” • In 11 months, the Germans sank 2,966 Allied or neutral ships carrying food, munitions, or men • 1 in 4 British ships were sunk • This led to the USA joining the war against the Germans • British started to sail in convoys escorted by warships and sea mines to break the German submarine control of the seas
Changing Technology This photo shows some of the early experimental submarines that were developed during World War I. The submarine was part of the modern style of warfare that was introduced in World War I. The German navy had approximately 100 submarines in service during WWI. Initially the Germans used submarines to threaten the Allies' economic blockade. In 1917 the German Kaiser declared unrestricted U-boat warfare against the allies, including neutral ships in British waters. In response, the Allies established armed convoys to protect merchant ships and increased production of mines and depth charges. The sinking of neutral ships, like the Lusitania in 1915, polarized public opinion (against the Germans) about the war, and was a major factor in the decision of the United States to join the Allied caused. Photo: Courtesy Queen’s University Archives
